Time to Say Goodbye
by Angel Abby
Summary: Hermione gets a faulty Time Turner from Dumbledore for her birthday and accidentally goes back in time where she meets up with a younger Snape. She finds out he is in love with someone and decides to help him win her love, but falls in love with him inste


A/N: You recognize it, then I don't own it and am certainly not making any money off it. This story is in response to a challenge "Time Travel My Love" from Crystal M. Star on This story is compliant up through book 5 as much as I can possibly make it; however, a few parts of book 6 are in here. Everything appearing in italics are thoughts. I would like to thank my beta, Snakeyes, for fixing my awful grammar.

Chapter 1: Cauldron Cleaning

She had been given yet another detention with the most despicable professor to ever teach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Snape. She had only been correcting Neville on a small mistake he was about to make, but _he_ hadn't seen it that way.

_I only prevented the boy from blowing up the Potions lab for the millionth time in the past seven years,_ Hermione thought to herself._ However did he manage to make it to Advanced Potions II? _Of course, she knew how he had done it but that wasn't the point.

Snape had her cleaning the cauldrons without magic. She felt it was degrading work and a waste of her time, thus making it a fine punishment. She eyed the man from the corner of her eye. He was just standing there; rather he sort of loomed in the corner of the classroom with his arms crossed over his chest. His dark eyes, which resembled two dark lakes, watched every move she made. _Doesn't he have papers to grade or something? I feel like he is staring straight through my robes._ In her mind, she could picture him staring at her naked body bent over the large cauldron in the front of the classroom and it disturbed her a bit.

"I believe it would be prudent to keep your mind on the task before you," the man said with little interest, his voice almost as foreboding as his eyes. "And to set your mind at ease, Miss Granger, I have gone over all the reports handed in today and recorded the pathetic scores."

_Damn Legilimency_! Heat flared up in her cheeks and she tried not to think. With that being harder than she thought possible, she began going over the potions they had been taught over the years. _Boil Reduction: 2 parts dried nettles, 1 part crushed snake fangs, 4 parts…_

An hour passed without another word from the being that remained in the corner. His silent presence loomed in Hermione's mind but she tried to keep it from her thoughts. The fact that he had invaded her mind did not bode well on her feelings for the man. _Draught of Living Death: 3 parts asphodel infused with 4 parts wormwood-_

"Five parts wormwood, Miss Granger. It is amazing that you can correctly advise an invalid, but you cannot remember something taught to you just last year," he snarled.

Hermione stood up and turned to face the menacing look she knew was going to follow her next statement. "If you would kindly stay out of my mind then I could concentrate. Don't you have anything else you could be doing?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "As it happens, Miss Granger, I do not. It is in the interest of the lessons tomorrow that I be sure that the cauldrons are ready for use. The slightest residue left can cause Mr. Longbottom's explosions to look like a case of mere doxy flatulence. Do not mistake my concern for the cauldrons as my liking to spend time with a insufferable know it all Hermione."

Hermione only growled softly in the back of her throat. _It's no wonder this man had no friends back in his school days. He is degrading to everyone he comes into contact with. I bet that the man has never been laid either. No woman could ever put up with him always telling her how awful a lover she is, when really-_

The almost silent swishing of his robes alerted her to his sudden movement. He grabbed her wrist and swung her around to face him. "Before you continue that thought with incorrect information, Miss Granger, I was an excellent lover back in the day."

"Were you now? Who can vouch for this beside Mr. Left or Mr. Right?" She was really upset for the invasion of her privacy. It didn't matter whether her thoughts were about his personal life or not, they were still her thoughts.

"She-" he stopped. For a moment, one single moment, something changed in his eyes. Hermione could have sworn that it was longing, possibly something more. But the next moment it was gone. "She is of no concern of yours." He released her hand and headed towards his private office. "You may go."

Hermione's curious mind was working on overdrive all of a sudden. She had no idea why his love life interested her; maybe it was the fact that the man didn't seem capable of real human emotions. Or maybe it was the fact he was not a handsome man and she couldn't imagine him with a woman. Whatever it was, her interest was peaked.

"What happened?" she said, trying not to sound like she was being nosy.

"She-" He stopped. "It is no business of yours. Now, go!"

The look in his eyes told her that if she pursued this conversation she would probably wind up in St. Mungo's and he would land himself in Azkaban. She decided not to push the issue any farther and took leave of the Potions room.

Back in the Gryffindor tower, Hermione flopped onto the couch. She had missed dinner, though she wasn't hungry in the least. She sighed heavily, classes had ended for the day, but her day was only half over. She removed a Time Turner from her pocket and slipped it over her head. Hermione had given this to her at the beginning of the year. There were so many classes that she wanted to take during her final year that he had thought it a prudent birthday gift. She was grateful, though this one seemed to be faulty. On occasion it had been off by a few hours when she wished to return to the start of the day. She had gone back a few days once, which was not a pleasant experience. Though the risk was there, she had no other way to get to her classes; Time Turners aren't the easiest to come by these days.

Gently, Hermione turned the device five times to bring her to the beginning of her day. She closed her eyes, knowing that the spinning world around her would make her ill. When she opened her eyes once again the sun was just above the horizon. Breakfast would have just started.

A/N: I don't know how the story got all kids of messed up but thanks to Essielynne I have fixed the problem. It must have been my computer auto correcting or something. I apologize for it.


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